Philz Coffee already hiring after San Jose minimum wage increase

On Monday, San Jose's minimum wage officially increased from $8 an hour to $10.

But at downtown's Philz Coffee, the wage change approved by local voters in November already went into effect last month.

San Jose store owner Nick Taptelis said he made the change early to "test the waters," and results so far have been mostly positive. He said the San Jose offshoot of the San Francisco-based coffee company has hired three new workers since the wage change, and month-over-month sales continue to increase.

"Everybody was just happier," Taptelis told me. "It's a happier team. It's a lot of customers talking about the new minimum wage."

Taptelis said the wage increase "definitely cost us," but the store never cut staff hours, laid workers off or increased prices. He added that some nearby businesses might not see the same results and be forced to raise prices or make other changes, but said the overall effect of "building community" is good for the city.

Last week, we told you about a nearby restaurant taking a different tack and reducing staff hours, which is to be expected, said San Jose Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies.

“It absolutely is going to be tailored to the individual businesses,” Knies told me. “Some already adjusted prices in January.”

While businesses adapt to the new wage, Knies on Monday joined leaders of the coalition that helped pass the Measure D minimum wage ballot initiative to encourage both local consumers and workers receiving the higher wages to spend in San Jose. The concept will be promoted with a new "shop local" campaign, called Earn 'n Spend in San Jose.

Knies said the campaign will include signs in the windows of San Jose businesses and a marketing push to spur customers to businesses paying workers more than surrounding cities, which are mostly still required to pay the lesser statewide minimum $8 an hour.

"It's like an economic stimulus to the whole region," South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council CEO Ben Field said at the event Monday, stressing the new spending power of local workers.

Field's predecessor at the Labor Council, Cindy Chavez, now the head of Working Partnerships USA, said San Jose and other cities already raising wages "should be seen as leaders."

She added that the labor groups and nonprofits that campaigned for San Jose's $10 minimum wage will also keep working to raise the state minimum wage. President Obama in his 2013 State of the Union also floated a $9 federal minimum wage, which Chavez also highlighted Monday.